Primary lymphoma of the heart: report of a case with histological diagnosis of the transvenously biopsied intracardiac tumor

Abstract

 Primary cardiac lymphoma is an extremely rare disease and is associated with a high mortality. In most cases, lymphomatous involvement of the heart and/or pericardium occurs as a late manifestation of disseminated disease. Primary cardiac lymphoma is treatable when appropriately diagnosed. We report the case of an immunocompetent 69-year-old patient who presented with signs of dyspnea and a transmural mass infiltrating the apical section of both ventricles. Examination of the tissue obtained by transvenous biopsy revealed high-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of B-cell lineage. The patient was treated successfully with CHOP chemotherapy. This case demonstrates that early diagnosis and intensive chemotherapy might contribute to a better prognosis for patients with malignant lymphoma of the heart.